2018 Yuletide Letter!

[ionthesparrow]

***edit 10/28: Hey Yuletide Author, in case I can catch you here, I also wanted to let you know I'll be traveling on 12/25 and may or may not get a chance to read anything Yuletide-related until the 26th. Just a heads up! thank you! ***

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you for writing for me! I think writing is most fun when you’re passionate about what you’re working on, so if you’re coming into this already inspired or with an idea you’re super excited about — that’s what I want to read! Go crazy. Write your bliss! I’ll love it.

But, if you prefer working off prompts or you’re looking for inspiration, read on. And feel free to mix and match, or pick and choose amongst the ideas below if you like :)


General Things I Love:

I mostly read/write queer relationships and gen, and I would be totally totally happy with either ship fic or gen (honest). I’m down with any rating your want to write. I tend to gravitate towards darker, angsty stuff. I like hurt/comfort, dystopian worlds, and horror tropes.

But I ALSO love characters and scenarios about people exploring/pushing the boundaries of gender roles. Boys in makeup. Butch women. Gender play. Crossdressing. Self-exploration. I also love friends-to-lovers and enemies-to-lovers. I’ve written mostly in sports fandoms, so I love team-as-family and family of choice stories.

I love SFF and weird shit! Magic! (With the caveat that if you’re going to adapt a system of magic from an existing piece of media, odds are good I’m not familiar with it, so I’ll just need the ground rules explained within the story). You want to write about tentacles? Cool. Androids and robots? I’m in. Put them in space. Send them through time loops. Other things I think are fun: royalty/betrothed AUs. Bring your fandom to work AUs. Boys crying. Bed/space sharing.

I’m also in if you want to write experimental fic. You wanna try out nonlinear narrative? I’m down. You’ve always been looking for an excuse to write a weird POV? Go for it. (although this is, of course, optional).

Do Not Wants:

Please avoid stories centered around sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and violence against women (edit to clarify: I'm fine with, say, a giant evil worm attacking a female character. I'm not fine with a giant evil worm attacking a character because she is a woman. Does that make sense?) The fandoms I’ve requested include het ships, and I’m down with you writing that, but please don’t bash queer characters or relationships. I also have at least one OT3 prompt below, and if you’re not into that, that’s totally cool, but I would prefer you avoided a story about the unresolved pining of a third person for a couple.

Jump to:
The Center for Otherworld Science
Gill & Gilbert
Hackers
Tremors

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The Center For Otherworld Science (characters = any)

Since this is maybe the least well-known fandom I’m requesting, a quick intro in case I can lure anyone new in: The Center for Otherworld Science is an on-going webcomic by Shing Yin Khor available in its entirety here
(it's pretty short. maybe an hour's worth of reading so far?), and a basic intro to the characters can be found here.

The art is amazing:


The story centers around three female scientists and engineers as they explore a strange world, grapple with issues of scientific morality, and, oh yeah, try to get laid:



Mags is canonical bisexual disaster. Dani is just trying to do her damn job. Jen is looking for a moral compass in a world of grays. What’s not to love?

- One of the things that intrigues me the most about this fandom is that there’s so much room for world building. What’s the relationship between the Otherworld and ours? When was it first discovered? How?

- The strip opens with an unsettling encounter between Blue, a creature from the Otherworld and a group of human explorers, but I think what exactly happens is a bit unclear. Are the creatures somehow toxic to humans? Are we toxic to them? How intelligent are they?

- This comic has real dark spots — somebody dies in the first section, it’s largely about ethics and how we do or do not live up to our better angels — but there’s so much humor woven in. I love that Mags is making jokes at a literal funeral. So what’s it like living and working in an unknown world where people die so often? What’s their gallows humor lifestyle really like?

- I love all three characters, so I would love fic about all of them working together, but if you want to focus on one (or two) I’d be totally down with that too.

- I have such a huge soft spot for Mags! She’s a disaster, but she knows it and she’s trying. I want to know everything about her backstory. How’d she get this gig? Did she have qualms about it even before all the shit went down with Jen? What’s her day to day life like in the Center?

- Honestly, lets be real: Dani deserves so much better, and her insecurity and her need to protect her heart resonate so much with me, but that said: what’s her next date with Mags look like? Does Mags make up for being awful by being amazing in bed? I also love that Dani clearly has a supportive circle of friends, and I would love to see more of her interactions with them.

- What is Jen up to???? How’d she first get involved? What drives her? What was her first meeting with Blue like? What made her sympathize with the Otherworld creatures over humans?

- One of the panels that resonated the most with me was when Jen releases the creatures, and one gets eaten. I think it effectively makes the point that even with the best intentions, there are consequences. How does that affect her? Her work?

- I ALSO loved the panel with Jen and Dani screaming into the void. What’s their relationship like? What would a friendship between them look like?

- I would love to see our three heroes team up for something. A rescue mission? Does Blue get lost in [insert city of your choice here] and they have to rescue Blue before something harms them?

- Heist fic! the scene where Jen “liberates” some of the Center’s collection gets glossed over real fast, but what if next time all three are involved? What does it take to convince Dani to get involved? Does it go off without a hitch? What are the sacrifices made? We haven’t gotten a real glimpse of how the Center came to be, or who runs it, so who’s the antagonist here? What if it’s someone one of our heroes is close to? Dani’s mother? Jen’s brother? Mags’ ex?

- On a slightly different note, what would a scientific paper one of them authored about the creatures or plant life in the Otherworld be like?

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Gill and Gilbert (characters = Brian David Gilbert, Patrick Gill)

These silly, lanky boys! You can find several of their videos on Youtube, here and more on Polygon’s twitch channel here.

- I love Polygon’s vibe of gentle ridiculousness, and I love how Pat and Brian take that to the extreme. Boys doing a weird modern take on public access television, complete with ridiculous graphics and sound cues? Yes please.

- Some of my prompts are more shippy than others, and I just want to say: I would be thrilled to have a story where they are best platonic bros or one where they have a sexual and/or romantic relationship. I’m excited for all of it!

- I love tons of Polygon content and staffers. I love the McElroy brothers, and would be super excited to see any of the above appear in fic. (But I would prefer you left Nick Robinson out of the story).

- Jumanji-esque fic! What happens if Pat and Brian get sucked into one of the video games they’re playing? Despite watching a lot of Polygon content, I’m not a huge gamer. But I’m generally familiar with the games Pat and Brian have played, as well with the games Polygon has done streams of — e.g. Monster Hunter World, PUBG, Sea of Thieves etc

- More specifically: Pat & Brian get stuck on the PUBG island and have to survive. What’s that like? What happens when gentle, song-singing, hair-touching soft boys have to murder everyone? Or do they try to make alliances and charm their way out? Is there crying? I hope there’s crying.

- On the opposite end of the spectrum: what if they get stuck in Stardew Valley? Is there a period of disbelief before they settle in and begin making a life? Is there bed-sharing in that tiny one-bedroom starter cabin? What are their trials and tribulations with parsnips and wine-making like?

- Do you want to make up your own video game out of whole cloth for them to play and/or get trapped in? That sounds awesome, go for it!

- What if a zombie apocalypse hits NYC, and Pat and Brian’s stream suddenly becomes an organizational and communication tool for reaching the survivors and plotting escape?

- What about the story of their forbidden office romance? Are there stolen moments in supply closets? Is there angst on Pat’s part about how Brian is new to the industry and this could hurt his career? Is there bad decision sex after an office event? Shenanigans to keep things secret?

- Do you want to write a tropey story about how they have to fake-date “for the stream” and it accidentally turns into real feelings? Let’s be honest: I would love that

- Dancing. Brian teaches Pat to dance. That’s it, that’s the prompt.

- “Five Segments Brian Didn’t Complete + 1 He Did”

- Brian brings Pat home for thanksgiving. Is Pat sad and solo on Thanksgiving for some reason? Does he get a glimpse in Gilbert family life? Does he experience mixed feelings and/or massive guilt if and when they bone in Brian’s childhood bed?

- What about a time/era shift? What’s the equivalent of streaming in the Old West? In Victorian England? On a future space fleet?

- Finally, if you happen to be into horror tropes, what if there’s some kind of curse where they have to keep streaming constantly/keep number of viewers above some number or terrible things start happening/everyone dies???


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Hackers (characters = any)

Hackers (1995) is available for streaming (free with ads) on Vudu, and available to rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play and iTunes.


- I waffled on which characters to request for this fandom, but I’m pretty much down for everything. Feel free to write about who you’re excited about, and don’t feel pressure to include everyone.

- I love the gender-bending aspects of the movie. I love Kate’s fantasy about Dade, Emmanuel’s hair, and Ramon’s entire vibe. I love how their outsider status manifests in their clothing (love Dade’s Traffic Vest But Make It Fashion look) and appearance as well as their hacking, and I would love a story that explored that

- I love the 90s-ness of this film, but also, what about time shifting it? What is the equivalent of hacking and what would this movie look like set in 1895? Or 2195?

- A LOT of my fic dreams for this movie involve variations on the Squad as some kind of queer polyamorous techy commune, or queer found family, or Kate’s harem, basically. Anything you want to do along those lines would be amazing

- Backstories! We don't get very much about Ramon or Emmanuel or Joey's background or how they came to hacking. What's going on in their world? What do they think of the events that went down? What are their goals for things to do next?

- I kind of love the idea of Dade as the “pet genius” of the team who can do anything with a computer, but needs help from his friends navigating the real world. How does the team help him thrive in NYC? (or elsewhere?)

- …sort of along those lines, i’d be super down with an AU where Kate is Dade’s bodyguard

- If you’re feeling plotty, I would love a story about the Squad taking down a second tech terrorist. Do things go smoother this time? Worse?

- I’m super fascinated with Dade’s background story, especially his relationship with his mom, I’d love it if you explored how his family dynamics/past shaped him into who he is today

- the AU version where Dade DOES wear a dress on his date with Kate. I would be ecstatic to get to see Dade getting ready for his date. Ramon helping Dade dress/do his makeup for his date. Dade discovering he likes wearing dresses…..

- Sports team AU? What if they’re all on the roller derby team together or something

- Finally, what if Dade is such a prodigy/so attached to his mom because he’s an android she built? What if his dad had moral qualms about that and that’s why Dade’s parents split? How does that affect his sense of self? What does it mean for his life going forward now that he’s come of age?


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Tremors (characters = Earl Bassett, Rhonda LeBeck, and Valentine "Val" McKee)

Tremors (1990) is available to rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play and iTunes.

- Okay, so the first thing I want to say is that I haven’t seen any of the sequels or TV spin-offs. If you have, and you want to lift canon from them? That’s cool, you’ll just have to explain it to me. On the other hand, if you want to discard anything and everything that happens after Tremors I, that’s fine too!

- Whenever I watch this film, the first thing I think of is that this trio is the OT3 of my heart. Romantic or platonic, I’d love stories focusing on the rapport that the three of them have

- That said, if you’re more comfortable focusing on just one or two of them, I’d be psyched about that too.

- I would love a prequel-type story. How did Val & Earl meet? How’d they get their start in Perfection? Are they from there? Did they just sort of end up there? How’d this unlikely duo get together?

- I would also love to know more about Rhonda! I would love to get more of her POV. What made her want to study earthquakes? How’d she end up studying Perfection? Was she nervous about ending up in the middle of nowhere, all by her lonesome? What’d she first think about the town and its inhabitants?

- Along shippier lines… how does the introduction of Rhonda influence Val & Earl’s relationship? Have they been steady, best-friends-with-benefits for awhile? Or does Val’s interest in Rhonda make one or both of the guys realize their feelings for each other?

- If you’re not interested in writing OT3, but you are interested in writing one of the couples in a relationship, I’m totally cool with that, I would just ask you don’t make the third party into the “bad guy”; and I’d like all three characters to end up in a place where they’re happy.

- What happens next??? Do Our Heroes road trip somewhere to discover the source of the Graboids? What IS the source of the Graboids?

- Do Val & Earl try to settle down somewhere new only to be interrupted by a new danger? What’s their attempt at a new life look like?

- Twist on the above: Val and/or Earl have successfully moved on to other things until one of them realizes exposure to the Graboids has left them with some weird power.... a psychic link to the worms? An ability to sense earthquakes about to happen? Something something, hand wave forced proximity curse?

- The academic in me would LOVE a story where Rhonda is invited to give a talk about her findings at a fancy research conference and drags Val & Earl with her. Please give me small town Val & Earl as the fish out of water in a hotel that is wall to wall scientists and where Rhonda is viewed as a rock star.

- Tremors and Perfection already has a kind of Old West vibe, so what would this story look like if it were set in the real, late 1800s Old West?

- Finally, I can’t help but notice that two of the fandoms I’m nominating involve giant, otherworldly worms. If you wanted to play with the idea of a Center for Otherworld Science/Tremors cross over? That would be amazing! What are Rhonda’s interactions with the scientists studying the Otherworld like? Can the Center provide an explanation for Graboids? What do Val & Earl make of the nutrient tubes? The wacky suits? The idea that there are other worlds out there??


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In conclusion: thank you so much for writing for me! I hope you have a wonderful Yuletide and I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!